Carolina Panthers: A First Place Schedule Not So Bad
The Carolina Panthers get to top their schedule off with the two unlikely NFC divisional champs from last year.
The Carolina Panthers are looking at an upgrade to their schedule over the teams they played last year. This was almost inevitable considering it was unlikely that the Panthers would again get two divisions in transition like they did last year. However the Panthers schedule does include a couple of games that are decent matchups for the team.
Every year each NFL team plays sixteen games. Six of those are against divisional opponents which leaves ten games unaccounted for. The NFL decided to rotate the divisions against each other so that every NFL team plays a full slate of one NFC division and one AFC division every year. Those two additional divisions make up for eight more games on the schedule.
The final two games are determined by a team’s finish. In an effort to promote balance, each team plays the two teams from its conference that finished at the same spot in their divisions. This can have the effect of allowing poorer performing teams to become competitive quickly by playing other poorer performing teams. It can also slow down the dominance of good teams by forcing them to play other high quality teams.
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This quirk has been important to the history of the NFC South division where the fourth place team seemed to rise up for the top spot every year. That pattern only changed in the Ron Rivera era of the Panthers where the Panthers have held the top of the South each of the last three years.
As a result, the Panthers have played the theoretical best teams in the NFC each of the last two years. It has spawned a series with a Seattle that is quite contentious. Seattle is on the schedule again this year because the NFC West is. The Panthers would have avoided the Seahawks in favor of the Arizona Cardinals had the West not been on the slate.
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The two teams that the Panthers picked up this year are the Washington Redskins and the Minnesota Vikings. The Panthers dominated the Redskins last year when they had to play the entire NFC East. Washington may now be officially moving forward with Kirk Cousins at quarterback, but it still does not have as many fangs as a healthy Dallas Cowboys roster would have had.
The other team that the Panthers get is Minnesota. This can also be considered a break since the Green Bay Packers played the Panthers so close last season. The Packers rely on Aaron Rodgers to spread the field, and this would have been a problem with a young secondary.
The Vikings rely on Adrian Peterson to pound the ball on the ground and thus go right at the heart of the Panther defense. That Panthers defense heart has two quality defensive tackles, a rookie who can contribute, Luke Kuechly, and Thomas Davis. That would be where the Panthers would prefer to decide the game rather relying on Bene and the boys.
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Last year the Panthers received the Packers and the Seahawks as their bonus games. The Panthers went 2-0 in those games despite playing Seattle on the road. There were more forgiving games elsewhere on the schedule. This year flips that with the Vikings and Redskins games being more forgiving versus trips to Denver and Seattle.